Niche
by NixiexGrey
Summary: "When one door closes, several open." Clarissa Fray has finally been accepted into the summer program she'd been dying to get into-at the expense of another kid's death. Many, like Aline and Jessamine, believe that...FULL SUMMARY INSIDE!


_**Full Summary: "When one door closes, several open." Clarissa Fray has finally been accepted into the summer program she'd been dying to get into-at the expense of another kid's death. Many, like Aline and Jessamine, believe that she has no right to enter into the prestigious program while others like Simon and Jem beg to differ. As a result, unlikely bonds will form while others break like shattered bones. True colors will show, which beg the question: is anyone really who they say they are?**_

**SO-whoa, I just realized I start off most of my updates with that one word…Anyway, this is my first crossover story that was spawned by a conversation I had with a person on a school she had sent her kids to over the summer and the moment she started describing it, I KNEW I had to incorporate it into a story! I mean, how **_**awesome**_** does this sound: a school built like several houses that have tons of rooms that are all sound-proofed where you spend your summer with loads of other kids practicing your musical abilities with private tutors? Seriously! Only problem is, since I've never been to the place, I'm left to fill in ¾ of the blanks of what I don't know. So if you've ever been a part of this program before, it won't even be that much alike compared to my story so everyone can enjoy it.**

_Songs:_

_Stop Crying Your Heart Out by Oasis (Clary's inner thoughts about the program.)_

_Running From Lions by All Time Low (the song that Jace's band is playing)_

_She's Got You High by Mumm-Ra (When Jace first spots Clary)_

_She Is Brighter by The Mitch Hansen Band (Yes, I do realize this song was written for Alice Cullen, but I feel the overall bubbly-ness reminds me of Izzy as well)_

_Everything by Lifehouse (Tessa and Will's relationship in a nutshell–moreover from Tessa's POV from what we've seen so far.)_

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story, nor do I own any of the songs that belong to their respectful artists/songwriters. If I do claim to use any of the songs as an "original" for the story written by a character-unless specified otherwise-belongs to its rightful owner, not me.**

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"We're here!" Jocelyn chimed from the driver seat, turning around and frowning when she realized the glum look on her daughter's face. For an entire week straight, Clary had been in a slump once the date had snuck up on her, but Jocelyn knew her daughter better than anyone and figured that secretly, she was glad she had gotten accepted.

That, and the fact that for a whole week straight after getting the manila envelope with "School of Rock in Roslyn, New York", Clary had ran laps inside the house singing at the top of her lungs with joy.

But that Clary and this Clary were two completely different people–the reason unbeknownst to Jocelyn.

"Yeah," Clary sighed, slumping further into her seat. "Soon-to-be home, sweet home." Clary saw the flash of pain in her mother's eyes and felt instant guilt overwhelm her; her sadness wasn't her mother's fault–it was her _fear_ that was the source of it all. Fear that settled in once Clary had started doing research on the prestigious summer program where musicians of all varieties had once attended before making it big in the world. And it only got worse when Clary realized that with a population of two hundred kids her age–not to mention all the other kids of varying ages–the pressure would be _intense_. She would have to be at her top performance twenty-four hours a day seven days a week just to keep up with the other kids. Then there was the much-anticipated end of the year final: the public performance.

First, you had to make the preliminary cut with the entire panel of alumni judges. Once you were in, they would give you a grade that would basically determine your future in whatever field of music you were into, which ranged from anything like rap to opera. The higher the grade, the better gigs they got you into. The lower the grade…

She shuddered internally at that thought. Closing her eyes, she chanted in her brain: _negative thoughts lead to negative actions, think positive and the positive will come._ Sure, it was a cheesy mantra, but it worked for almost all her life and she wasn't about to throw away her calming routine because it "sounded cheesy".

Clary opened her eyes when she felt a soft pressure on her elevated knee–which had been resting on the back of Jocelyn's chair–and smiled a little when she saw her mother staring back at her, concern in her eyes and a hopeful smile on her face.

"You'll be wonderful, Clare bear," Jocelyn whispered. "They didn't choose you for just any reason. They chose you because you're _special_."

* * *

Clary had never felt more alone in her life than she had the moment her mom left her in the main office with her assigned house advisor. Apparently, every house was divided solely on gender because every room in each house was soundproofed as to avoid niches from forming-a.k.a. the band geeks being in one house, the divas in another, etc. But whether or not this news was supposed to make Clary feel better, it only added to her misery.

"You ready to see your room yet?" the house advisor-Charlotte-beamed in her British accent. "It's quite nice here, you haven't to worry about bullies and such. Everyone here is friendly, I promise."

Clary gave Charlotte what she hoped was a friendly enough smile-one that read, "I appreciate the effort of being nice to me"-but wound up looking like she was grimacing in pain. And who knows, maybe that was exactly what she wanted Charlotte to see so that the girl would understand that despite Clary's best efforts, she just wasn't cut out for the School of Rock program.

Clary was silent the entire walk around campus, nodding when it was appropriate to and laughing whenever Charlotte made a joke. The campus itself was imposing with its impressive Gothic architecture and high spires that boasted years of existing in prestige. Even the main office had all glass stained windows and marble floors with metal sconces and high rafters–almost a Dracula castle in itself. Clary found herself wishing the dorm rooms would be much more to her liking, a.k.a. modernized.

"…And this concludes our tour," Charlotte laughed as they stopped in front of a surprisingly homey-looking building with a swing chair on the porch underneath a second floor balcony that had walls separating each window. "This is one of the many dorm rooms we have on campus and don't worry; you'll be spending a majority of your time in your dorms instead of those actual classrooms we saw. Those are for the actual school year for the kids enrolled in the full year course."

"Oh thank God," Clary sighed in relief, then blushed when Charlotte let out a boisterous laugh. "No offense, but those buildings back there kind of gave me the heebie-jeebies if you know what I mean."

"Oh," Charlotte panted, gasping for air after her laughing fit, "I do, trust me."

Clary was about to comment on that when a sudden outcry "Charlie!" interrupted her. Spinning around, she saw a scrawny-looking teenage boy around her age running up to them with what looked to be a guitar case swung over her back and two drum sticks in his hands.

"Oh, hey Simon," Charlotte giggled, pulling the boy in for a quick embrace. "Simon, this is Clarissa Fray. She's the new student and happens to be in my dorm house. How brilliant is that?"

Clary appraised the boy; he was at least a good five or six inches taller than her with pale skin, black eyes magnified by glasses and had a head full of inky black hair that flopped down over his forehead and tickled the frame of his glasses, threatening to spill over.

Simon smiled. "Cool beans! Does she speak English?"

"Fluently," Clary smiled genuinely for the first time that day. Maybe this camp program wouldn't be as nerve-wracking as she anticipated it to be…

* * *

"Hey moron, you're off-beat _again_," Will snapped when Jace played a half note as a quarter note. When Jace scowled at him from his guitar, Will met his gaze. "If you want to go off into Lala Land, fine by me. But don't take up residency when the band needs you here."

Jace hated his cousin more than anything during practice because Will was just as much as a stickler at perfecting music as Jace was an ass. As a result, conflicts became inevitable. But if anyone were to see the Herondale boys outside of practice, none of them would assume that they would even dare insult each other for hurting purposes.

"I'd rather be in Lala Land when we're practicing because that's when you start acting like you've gotten a stick shoved up your ass," Jace shot back. "Which is why I deserve lead since _I_ at least know how to not act like such a prick when we're playing."

Jace knew Will hated whenever he brought that up since the band elected for him to be the leader, but ever since he started using it, Will had softened up a bit. But at this very moment, with the amount of hatred seething from the black haired-blue eyed boy, Jace figured Will wasn't having it.

"Goddammit, Jace," Will hissed, taking the guitar strap off his shoulder before storming off.

"What's his problem?" Alec snorted from where he sat on the wooden picnic bench with his bass on his lap, in the shade that the massive lucky oak tree provided–the very tree where all the greats sat underneath during their stay at the school however long it was because of the rumor that the tree warded off all evil.

"No clue," Jace sighed, sitting up on the table instead of on the bench next to Alec. Strumming a few chords aimlessly, Jace allowed his eyes roam across the sparkling green campus, taking in the scenery while adding background music to whatever person happened to walk by.

When his eyes spotted Isabelle Lightwood–Alec's younger sister–Jace switched whatever song he had been playing before to a funeral dirge, which caused Alec to double over in laughter.

"Well, well, well," Jace smiled ever-so-charmingly. "If it isn't the Ice Queen herself. And what brings you forth to the fiery side of the campus instead of the much more suitable kitchen freezer pit where you belong?"

Izzy shot Jace the dagger eyes, a look that didn't bother him in the slightest, before turning her attention to Alec. "Did you hear about the new girl that replaced Kaelie? She's really sweet from what I can tell. _Everyone's_ talking about her."

"You met her?" Jace stared at her dubiously. "And she's _still_ here by choice?"

"Oh shut up, Jace," Izzy snapped. "And for your information, I haven't _met_ her in person yet. I've only heard things about her."

Jace relaxed. "Oh, okay. Now I see why she's still here."

Izzy turned her attention to her chuckling knucklehead of a brother. "And you're friends with him _why_?"

Alec shrugged. "Entertainment purposes' only."

"Which is exactly why girls and boys alike adore me," Jace simpered. "I satisfy both gender's needs in that way without going sexual for boys."

"Oh God," Izzy groaned, curling her lips in disgust.

Jace winked. "Keep it up, babe, and you might actually not have to fake it anymore."

Izzy was about to say something else when something caught her eye: a patch of fiery red alongside a blur of black moving along the greenery. Spinning around, she flushed when her eyes stumbled upon a familiar face: Simon Lewis', to be specific. She never was really certain on what he was to her throughout the past few summers they had shared together, only that he seemed to be the only genuine boy that didn't fawn over her on her looks–which she appreciated greatly.

But the sight of him wasn't welcoming at the moment–not with the redhead beside him, at least. Izzy couldn't quell the envious feeling as she watched the two of them joke around as if they were best buds for years, as if the other girl knew him better than _she_ did. But the thing was, she probably did. The few words Izzy and Simon had exchanged were all small talk, friendly banter and nothing deep. Who knew how much they had in common–that is, if they _had_ anything in common.

"Why so low?" Jace asked, causing Izzy's ponderings to halt. Then he followed her line of sight and felt his breath catch. That _had_ to be the new girl; never in all of his life had he ever seen her, and yet, he felt compelled to know her for whatever reason. The connection was stronger than ever, startling him by how much it tugged at his very body in a comical manner similar to that of a mime pretending to pull on a person after lassoing them.

"He's rendered speechless?" Alec mock gasped, earning a dirty look from Jace. "Dare I say it is love at first sight?"

"If that's what it takes to get her into bed," Jace smirked, earning a smack to the back of his head courtesy of Izzy. "And chill the hormones, Iz. I was kidding. But then again, it might distract the new girl and you'd benefit from that, wouldn't you?"

"Huh?" Alec frowned. He hated being out of the loop, especially when Jace of all people knew and he didn't. But Izzy wasn't keen to admitting to showing actual emotions since Alec always opened up to Jace and well, one could only imagine how beneficial getting feedback from the King of Sarcasm was.

"Nothing," Jace said with an innocuous smile. "Nothing at all. Isn't that right, dearest Isabelle?"

"Nothing," she growled, the guilt building up in her stomach as she lied to her brother. "Nothing at all."

* * *

After spending the entire Sunday morning hanging out with Simon–which was apparently the only true "lazy" day, according to him–Clary went back to her house to begin the actual unpacking system. After unlocking her bedroom door with her own key, Clary was surprised to see her trunks already in her room with her acoustic and electric guitar along with the amp on their stands in the corner. The room itself was pretty plain; propped against the left wall was her four-poster bed with a bureau and oval mirror above it on the opposite wall. On the wall across the door was another desk with two chairs and a stand set up in between the chairs with a door beside the desk that probably led to her own bathroom.

Sighing, Clary plopped down onto her bed and strongly considered leaving off the unpacking process for tomorrow, but frowned when she realized she still needed to shower. She was in the middle of sitting up when she heard a soft knock on her door and she immediately bolted to the door.

"Who's there?"

"Just another girl wanting to say hey," a voice said from the other side, sounding cheery. Clary felt suspicious of the amount of cheeriness in the other's girl voice, but shrugged it off and decided the least she could do was try to make friends at the place she'd spend the next two and a half months.

Upon opening the door, Clary gasped when a black blur moved past her and took refuge at one of the two chairs by the desk. The blur, as it turned out, was a girl–a beautiful girl with inky black hair similar to Simon's and wide icy blue eyes; a sight that sent pangs of jealousy throughout Clary's body.

"The name is Izzy," Izzy smiled demurely. "And I hear you're new here! Thank God, I can now have a normal friend here."

Clary was about to make a joke about how Izzy shouldn't presume things without fully knowing the details, but figured she actually wanted to have friends here and ended up just shrugging in response.

"Kaelie was a huge pain in the derriere anyway," Izzy blabbered on, not thinking much about what she was saying. "I mean, it's sad she had died and all, but I can't say I'm too shocked about it, you know? She was always putting herself out there–literally, _out _there. Her wardrobe looks like it got in a fight with a pair of scissors and lost horrendously."

"Uh, yeah," Clary mumbled, shifting uncomfortably from foot-to-foot. "I wouldn't know."

"True," Izzy agreed before falling into an awkward silence that lasted ten seconds too long. "All right, well, I hope you had a fun first day and I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Sure," Clary murmured as Izzy began to walk out. Clary shook her head, stunned beyond belief by how some people acted, as she walked into her bathroom and proceeded to shower.

* * *

Tessa's mind was reeling in endless circles as she barely spotted Will in the dim light of the early morning sky sitting underneath the lucky tree, strumming his fingers on his lap restlessly. He had roused her from her slumber around five o'clock in the morning by texting her to meet him alone underneath the lucky tree. She obeyed without question.

Grunting as she sat down on the dew-glazed grass, Tessa noticed how Will hadn't acknowledged her even though it was quite obvious she was there beside him.

"Hey stranger," Tessa laughed weakly, attempting at humor. But from the impassive look on his face, she figured Will wasn't really up for a good laugh.

"I hate his guts, Tessie," Will murmured, lifting his head so that he was staring right at her, his blue eyes piercing her soul. "I really do."

Tessa sighed._ So this was about Jace again? _She knew the two had been going at it more and more especially since this year talent scouts from NYU were going to be placed at every gig that the kids were performing at. And the moment the band elected Jace to be lead had _crushed_ Will. Then there was the whole murder case involving the only girl drummer on campus–a.k.a. Kaelie–who happened to be their drummer.

"What did he do this time?" Tessa asked softly. She watched as he set his guitar aside and hitched his knees up to rest his elbows on them as he tugged on his hair in frustration.

"He's just been driving me absolutely insane with a pretense that he's so much better than me," Will growled irritably. "The smarmy little prig."

"Will," Tessa whispered, inching closer to wrap her arms around his shoulders from the side to pull him closer, "don't let what he says or does get to you, okay? We're all stressed out over everything that's happened so far. I mean, it's only been what, a week?"

When he didn't say anything, Tessa pulled him closer, running her fingers through his smooth black curls as she placed a soft kiss against his temple. "_I'm_ even stressed out, if that helps things."

She felt his body vibrate as he chuckled. "That's possible?"

"Apparently," she sighed. "So don't take whatever Jace is pitching your way too seriously, all right?"

"I'll consider your advice," Will said as he shrugged out of her embrace. He placed his hands on either side of her face and placed another gentle kiss on her lips. And with that, he helped her up before he packed up and headed out to prepare for the day's upcoming events. Which left Tessa alone, standing underneath the tree.

She knew that Will wasn't really one to show much emotion–she knew what she was getting herself into the moment she decided to let him into her life–but it secretly killed her inside whenever she got her hopes up that one day, he'd act more on his impulses instead of just venting to her like an ordinary friend. Because if you took out the little kisses, that was all they were. Just friends, and nothing more.

**Jace: A crossover? Really? Couldn't handle me alone?**

**Clary: Oh...oh God. This in no way shape or form can end well.**

**Tessa: I concur.**

**Jem: Am I not going to be in this story?**

**Will: Sorry, this can only handle so many magnificent men at once.**

**Me: Sorry, Jem! You're going to be mentioned soon, don't worry!**

**Will: Speaking of leaving men behind, where is Henry?**

**Henry: Right here!**

**Me: Okay, well, he's going to be included! I'm still thinking of who to include and who not to! Jeez!**

**Sophie/Agatha/Thomas/Jessamine: *Cough cough***

**Me: GAH! Enough with the pressure!**

**Will: Try living with all of them.**

**Jace: You should see what _I _have to deal with.**

***Mind blows at how awesome the concept is of writing both Jace _AND_ Will in one story***


End file.
